Dustin Johnson returns to Heritage for first time since 2009

Eric Boynton Staff Writer @ericjboynton

Wednesday

Apr 11, 2018 at 8:28 PMApr 12, 2018 at 9:24 AM

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Dustin Johnson took to the Harbour Town driving range Wednesday afternoon to whack a few old golf balls using vintage clubs alongside Clemson alum Sam Saunders, grandson of the late Arnold Palmer.

Using the old-school clubs and balls, similar to those Palmer used when winning the inaugural RBC Heritage 50 years ago, was another small token of affection tournament organizers have been showing toward their first champion this week.

Strangely enough, it kind of feels like that equipment might’ve been in use the last time Johnson, now in his 60th-consecutive week at No. 1 in the world, teed it up at this event, South Carolina’s lone annual PGA Tour stop.

Born in Columbia before attending Dutch Fork and Coastal Carolina, Johnson has been a star from the get-go, having won at least one of his 17 career tournaments in each of his 11 PGA Tour seasons. Only Jack Nicklaus (17) and Tiger Woods (14) hold longer such streaks.

Johnson played Harbour Town as a rookie in 2008, missing the cut at 79-79, and the 2009 season was his last appearance (also missing the cut at 71-76) until now. A big reason for the return is Johnson signed in February with Heritage title sponsor Royal Bank of Canada, which has stockpiled Hilton Head with its roster of talent such as former champions Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar and Graeme McDowell.

Even when the tournament lost Verizon and played without a sponsor in 2011, facing possible extinction, Johnson sat out even as most pros with South Carolina ties did extra leg work in hopes of helping land a savior company that eventually turned out to be RBC, with a hand from Boeing.

The field does annually suffer in lack of attendance from a lot of top-ranked pros who prefer to take the week off following the Masters grind.

“One of the reasons I haven’t been back in so long is it just always…with scheduling, it’s right after Augusta,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I usually take a break right after the majors. But I’ll wait until next week to take a vacation. But that’s one reason I haven’t been back here, pretty much the only reason. But now I’m an RBC ambassador, so I’ll be back here for the next few years.”

Much of the thought process from observers going back a decade is no course set up worse for the power-hitting Johnson, one of the longest in the game since he arrived, than the quirky Harbour Town Links, one of the Tour’s shortest courses with precise landing areas and postage-stamp sized greens.

That theory’s been vaporized with Johnson and his 17 career victories proving he has the all-around game to win anywhere at anytime, no matter the layout. Defending champion Wesley Bryan, like Johnson a South Carolina native and Dutch Fork alum, has been familiar with Johnson’s game since they were teenagers, and Wednesday he scoffed at any notion Johnson’s game was ill-fitted for the tightly-lined links off the Calibogue Sound.

“Last time I checked he’s the No. 1 golfer in the world, the best on the planet. So as long as we’re playing the game of golf he’s got a good chance of winning anywhere he tees it up. There’s a lot of holes he can hit 2-iron and be out there with a lot of guys hitting drivers. It’s an advantage to have that length, especially on this course. Like No. 2, he can just rip a cut and have an 8- or-9-iron in where a lot of guys will have mid- and long-irons.”

Johnson went out and made 10 birdies in the Wednesday morning pro-am and later said, “I like tight, tree-lined courses, it’s what I grew up playing. It’s not like anything new. No matter what club you’re hitting, you need to hit it straight and place it in the correct side of the fairway and go from there. The greens are small and you really don’t want to miss them, so controlling your ball in is very imperative, too.”

One of the last times long-hitting John Daly played the Heritage he acknowledged he didn’t use his driver more than twice over the round. Johnson said depending on the wind, he expects to hit driver “four or five times” over 18 holes. When jokingly asked if playing partner Bryan dared him to go the entire round without using the driver at all, would he accept?

“Well, no,” Johnson said. “I have a hard time beating guys with all my clubs without taking one out.”

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